outcomesforourpatients.Whenwetalkaboutmasteringasubject, wemeanjustthis.Masterycomesfromrepeatingandrefininga procedureuntilitisasgoodaswecangetit.Inthisweneedthehelpand guidanceofmastersurgeons,andtheseexcellenttwovolumesprovide justthat.Inthissecondedition,thetechniqueshavebeenbroughtright uptodatewithstep-by-stepdescriptionsoftheessentialoperationsin colorectalsurgerybycarefullychosenexpertsintheirfield.Itislavishly illustrated,andthereisaccesstoacompanionwebsitewithanimage bankandvideosoftheprocedures.SteveWexnerandJimFleshmanhave doneagreatjobinrevisingandrenewingthisoutstandingcoupleof volumesintheMasterTechniquesseries.

employedtechniquesforabdominalandanorectalsurgery.Allof thechaptershavebeenwrittenbyinternationallyacclaimedexperts,each ofwhomwasgivenliterarylicensetoallowthebooktobemorecreative andlessrigorouslyformatted.Althoughsometechniquesareself­explanatoryandtheauthorsthereforeconcentratedtheirverbiageupon resultsandcontroversiessurroundingaparticulartechnique,other proceduresaredescribedinamorealgorithmicmanner.Specifically, sometechniquesrequireamuchmoreheavilyweighteddescriptionof preoperativeand/orpostoperativeparametersratherthanintraoperative variables.Thematchingofillustrationsandvideoshasalsobeentailored tosuittheneedsofeachchapter.Becauseofthequantityofmaterial,the bookisdividedintotwovolumes:onethatincludestheabdominaland onethatincludesanorectalprocedures.Whilemanytextbooksvieforthe attentionofsurgeonsintrainingandsurgeonsinpractice,theMastery series,editedbyDr.JosefFischer,hasestablisheditselfastheresource forexpertmanagementofeachtheme.Therefore,thisbookwas deliberatelycraftedtoaugmentratherthantoreplaceseveralother excellentrecentlypublishedtextbooks.Itisourhopethatthesevolumes beusedinthatcontextsothatthereadercanlearnthefundamentalsand basicsusingmanyotherexcellentsourcematerialsandthenrelyupon theMasteryofColorectalSurgerybooksformoreclarityintermsof reviewofveryspecificprocedures.Inthatsamemanner,thesebooks performareadypreoperativeresourcebeforeembarkinguponindividual procedures.

anorectaloperationsandabdominaloperations.Contentwiththe overwhelmingpopularityofthatbook,wearepleasedandproudtooffer youthissecondedition.Weareindebtedtotheauthorsandcoauthorsof the117chaptersinthesetwovolumes.Wehopethatyouwillagreewith usthatthesetwovolumesprovidebeautifullyillustratedand authoritativelywrittenchaptersaboutvirtuallyeverycurrentlypracticed colorectalsurgicaltechnique.